How do you blog (using Blogger.com)? Here is a quick introduction from Blogger.
How do you actually blog?
Layout. The great thing about about Blogs is that they allow you to present your ideas and writing without worrying about the HTML code that underlies the blog - which is really a website. But you still need to think about how you make the limited number of choices about layout. Its easy to post your first blog and then experiment with different styles and looks - called templates. These will alter the form but not the content of the blog. Make sure your blog is readable. Grey text against black is not a good idea. Some of your selections can affect how they read when the blog is accessed by a Reader. Check!
Widgets. These can add great content to your blog and are quite easy to set up. Add, check and remove if they detract.
About you. Include some information about yourself - who you are, why you are blogging, what you hope to achieve, what someone might learn from your blog. You are more likely to get people subscribing if they have these information.
(Post)Title. Choose the title for your post very carefully. It needs to be simple and informative. Again Readers display the title. Subscribers might scan just the titles while deciding what to read. Then mark as read anything that doesn't appeal - missing your beautifully crafted post.
Structure. The opening paragraph needs to summarise the post, but in a way to raise interest. I often write this last - before publishing online. Its easier once you can see what you have said, to craft the introduction.
Links. Without any links the posting has no context. In an academic essay you are required to include quotes that support the ideas you are discussing. Then at the end of the essay there is a bibliography that relates to the reference. The idea being that interested readers can trace the reference back to the original source. How much easier is this on a blog! If you find a useful site and use it, link to it. If there is more information that relates to your post, link again. Be aware that if you want to link to a blog post make sure you use that posting's url (permalink) and not the blog's home page. (Whats displayed on the homepage will change.)
Multimedia. Not using images, video and audio is to criminally under use the blogging medium. A picture can say a 1000 words. Especially so if you are blogging for a media course. So include media, both yours and others (it's about context again). You can upload video and images to Blogger. They get stored on your account - Picasa. You can download Picasa as an application and use it instead of iPhoto (I think its better). However the free storage for Picasa is actually quite modest. You are better uploading to your YouTube or Vimeo account and embedding the video into the blog. Still images could be embedded from Flickr or Photobucket. (Keep track of your accounts and passwords). There are uploaders for iPhoto that will help you manage uploads. iPhoto will upload to Facebook and Picasa. Videonic will upload from your mac to Youtube. There is also Divshare - this will allow you to embed and stream audio and video from your Blog.
Writing. Just because its not an essay doesn't mean that you don't have to spell, Capitalise, punctuate, and paragraph. I expect to see all of these displayed to degree level. There's a spellchecker in Blogger. Use it , then check it - its US English. We require UK English! It's normal practice to have 2 spaces at the end of a sentence - it makes the piece easier to read. Use one space after a comma.
Organisation. Labelling (or tagging). You have the option to tag/label your posts. This is basic metatagging. It makes your blog easier to navigate. It makes sense for you, your readers and it's good media management. Things need to be organised so that you can store, search and find things. The labels allow you to catagorise your posts. If you are interested in the ideas of organisation - and they are relevant to you and your studies, watch this presentation by David Weinberger (or read his book - its an easy read!)
Content. Remember that your content needs to be legal, fair and decent. You must avoid libel, slander and deformation of character. Your blog is public and not private.
From a student point of view, this is where the bulk of the marks are likely to be given. It would help to start by thinking about what uses blogs actually serve. Whom are they aimed at? Here are some broad descriptions:
- A diary/daily journal - what you did, what you think,
- Commercial support - development and problem solving with users
- Interest groups - sharing information with like minded people on one subject, area or topic
- Personal thoughts and ideas - reflecting on topics and subject(s) that interest you
Your blog may need to have some journal type of writing (1). As well as your thoughts and ideas (4).
Description. What of what happened,what didn't happen, and what were the consequences etc.
Reflection. Detail the logic of decisions and choices. You should comment on alternatives you might have taken and whether that might have been better/worse for whatever reasons.
Context. You also need to contextualise your work and thoughts - relate them to other examples, current practice etc. A lot of student writing tends to cover descriptive writing quite well and be less effective in reflecting on and contextualising their work.
Lessons learnt. You should also comment on what you feel you learnt, what you feel you need to learn, illustrating it by explaining how you might perform the task/exercise if you were to do it again.
How do we judge 'reflective writing'? Broadly we might define reflective writing like this:
Excellent reflective writing has these qualities: Reflective language that describes, analyses and plans subsequent actions as a result of reviewing processes and events.
Good reflective writing has these qualities: Use of vocabulary, writing style and expression indicate engagement with the reflective process. Evidence of self-evaluation and awareness of the wider context.
Poor reflective writing has these qualities: Writing style mainly descriptive but some engagement with the reflective process. Reflection largely confined to the personal, with little attempt to connect to the wider context.
Very poor reflective writing has these qualities: Use of vocabulary, writing style and expression entirely descriptive, showing very little engagement with the reflective process.
As with all things you get better with practice, but you can also learn a lot from just reading a range of blogs. Here are some you might like to read and subscribe to in your Reader (they may also provide context for some of your studies):
Phil Bloom Freelance Director of Photography and exponent of cinematic style video shooting. (Often on DSLRs).
Powertothepixel Great site that attempts to gather news and information about transmedia developments.
Wired magazine UK based version of the US techie site. Good for tech news with UK slant.
Readwrite More tech news this time based in the States, but very comprehensive and up to date.
Smashing Magazine Highlights design issues. Often something of interest.
Stu Maschwitz Stu wrote the DV rebel handbook and is a post production guru. Interesting and thought provoking. Some of his stuff on colour grading etc is very informative. (His books worth a read too. Check out the library.)
The Guardian (Media section) classic resource on the Media (Monday's paper issue - but there's more online)
Good luck with your blogging. If this has helped you, or you think it can be improved - leave a comment. That's also very much part of the art of blogging.
Mike J
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Posted By Mike Johnston to Mike j's Blog on 9/03/2009 01:12:00 PM
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